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opportunity to mention some highlights of recent accomplishments or a brief 

 description of program status to illustrate the scope of our marine resource 

 activities. 



Through the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries the nation is being furnished 

 with technical knowledge which assists the exploitation and management of 

 ocean and lake fisheries. Information has been produced on abundance, distribu- 

 tion, and behavior of the major exploitable fishery stocks available to the U.S. 

 fishing industry. In many high seas situations, such as in the Northwest Atlantic 

 and the North Pacific, cooperative research with other nations has furnished 

 information to be used as a basis for management of fishery stocks that are of 

 common concern to several nations. 



There has been discovery of new stocks of shrimp south of the Aleutian chain 

 and along the northeastern coast of South America. Largely untapped hake and 

 anchovy resources have been described along the Pacific Coast. Predictions have 

 been made on the availability of skipjack tuna in the Hawaiian Islands region 

 and of albacore tuna in the Eastern Pacific, of shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico 

 and scallops, menhaden and ground fishes in the Western Atlantic. 



The members of this committee are well informed on the development of fish 

 protein concentrate, the process which makes a nutritious fish additive from 

 whole fish. The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries is now cooperating with the 

 Marine Council and AID in making the technology for this process available to 

 other countries where the need for protein is acute. 



Progress has been made in estuarine research to determine the life histories 

 of species that inhabit these productive waters and to interpret the effects which 

 various engineering and other environmental alterations have on the survival 

 of species that inhabit inshore waters. 



The National Estuarine Study directed by the Clean Waters Restoration Act 

 and being carried out by the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration 

 will be of extensive help in the future to reach decisions on courses of action in 

 estuarine areas. This three-year study and analysis of estuarine uses and prob- 

 lems will have a strong bearing on recreation, commercial fishing, transportation 

 and other industrial interests. 



Marine geological research and exploration have shown presence of fre.<5h 

 water aquifers 90 miles off Florida, structures which are likely to hold oil and 

 gas resources on the Atlantic Continental Shelf, a major source of sand and 

 gravel off New York and extensive pavement-like deposits of manganese on the 

 Blake Plateau off the coast of Florida and Georgia. Marine phases of the Geo- 

 logical Survey and Bureau of Mines Heavy Metals Programs have shown gold 

 in placer deposits in Norton Sound of Nome, Alaska. The black sand deposits 

 off Oregon and California are being investigated for their potential heavy metal 

 content. In mining research, progress has been made with specialized core-drilling 

 devices as instruments to delineate the nature, structure and grade of sediment 

 and sea bed mineral deposits. 



Related to the discovery of mineral resources is the management of Continental 

 Shelf lands. The Department has administered leases for oil, gas, sulfur and other 

 materials which have brought over $2.7 billion to the Federal Treasury since 1954. 

 The Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management are the agents for 

 the Federal Government as designated by the Secretary of the Interior to manage 

 the resources which are U.S. possessions in the submerged lands of the Outer 

 Continental Shelf. 



A nation-wide recreation plan is now being developed by the Bureau of Out- 

 door Recreation. It will analyze the demand, supply, needs, and opportunities 

 for recreation on a national scale. The plan will make known the relation of 

 marine and Great Lakes recreation to the total recreation complex in a manner 

 not previously possible. 



The National Park Service now maintains 20 lake and seashore areas that 

 provided recreation and enjoyment for more than 7 million visitors in 1966. 82 

 national wildlife refuges located in coastal areas had 1.3 million recreational 

 visitors in 1966. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has assisted 133 projects 

 in states to acquire and develop recreational areas on the sea coast and on the 

 Great Lakes. 



The conservation, abundance and distribution of varied marine gamefish and 

 wildlife species of marine interest are under study by the Department's Bureau 

 of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife. In recent years 3 marine gamefish laboratories 

 have been established and 2 new ones are now under construction on the Gulf 

 Coast. 



